Tasting Her Smile
by SereneCalamity
Summary: It took Draco a while to realize he was in love with Hermione. Dramione. Oneshot.


**It has been years since I've written Dramione! But my Dramione heart, along with thousands others, was reawakened by _that_ video that was posted. Seriously. It's hilarious how completely involved I am in my fandoms, watching that video literally made me teary eyed. Haha. Anyway! That's where this came from.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, barely the plot, especially not their little exchange at the bottom, which I took directly from that adorable little clip.**

It had all been a bit strange at first.

And hard.

It had definitely been hard.

All Draco Malfoy had wanted was to get away from his parents, so when he had heard through the grapevine—Ginny Weasley was dating Luna Lovegood who had strangely become friends with Pansy Parkinson who reported back to Draco—that the little Gryffindor trio were going to take a break after they all graduated, they hadn't decided what they wanted to do or where to go, but they had wanted to explore what else there was out there, go out and explore the muggle world, he had kind of been interested.

Long story short, Draco had heard that they were taking a trip, taking a break from the wizarding world, and he had wanted to come with them.

It didn't matter that they wanted to go and _work_ , it didn't matter that the four of them had never really gotten along during their time at school, and it didn't matter that they were going out into the muggle world—a place Draco had never ventured into before.

He was in.

He really never thought he would be _excited_ to go anywhere with them, given they had never run in the same social circles at school, and they had really gotten off on the wrong foot when they had first started at Hogwarts.

He'd been a bit of a prick, he could admit that now.

And he had crossed a line when he had called Hermione Granger a _Mudblood_ , although he hadn't realized that until he was older.

He had apologized to her years ago, but he did it again...Right before he asked if he could come with them.

Lucius Malfoy had had a fit, and Narcissa Malfoy had looked positively confused.

Draco didn't care—two days after graduation, they were gone.

Him with Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Granger.

Draco had never been _poor_ before, but in the muggle world, they were nowhere near rich.

He kind of liked it.

Or he had liked it at first, until the charm of living in a tiny two bedroomed apartment wore off, and they all started arguing over the bathroom, and they had to keep their magic use to a minimum so they actually had to wash dishes and change their own beds and cook their own dinners, and then they got behind on their power bill and the lights had gone out as they had been watching a recording of that days _Jeremy Kyle_ , Draco's new obsession.

So it had been hard.

And there had been some arguments and some snappy words and there was even a drunk punch thrown from Weasley at Draco at one point.

But then it got better again.

Thing smoothed over.

And they all stayed there, in the muggle world, in California.

They all worked odd jobs and pooled their money and they got better at saving and not buying alcohol every other day.

Well— _Hermione_ had gotten more organised, and she had whipped the rest of them into shape.

They shared making dinner and breakfast, leaving food in the fridge for whoever was on a late shift at work that night.

They had board game nights that included _no_ magic, something that Potter and Granger introduced to them.

They shared buying the groceries and doing the mundane tasks.

They went out as a group at least once a week, usually more.

They had photos plastered all over the apartment of the lot of them and weird colourful knick knacks that they had collected.

They became _Harry, Ron and Hermione,_ not Potter, The Weasel and Granger.

They were a family.

Ron met a girl with blonde hair with blue streaks in it, who spoke with an accent.

Harry met a guy with tanned skin and who taught surfing down at the beach.

There had been a couple of girls, and a couple of guys, that Draco had gone home with, but he'd been pretty open with his sexuality back in school, and it didn't really interest in him so much now, to just hop from person to person.

Hermione taking the time off had been the biggest surprise to Draco, he had always thought that she would be off to higher education, working her way up the totem pole in the working world.

He brought it up and she had shrugged and looked younger than he had ever seen her as she looked over at Ron and Harry play fighting over the remote for the television and said that her higher aspirations wouldn't suffer if she took a few years off to travel with her boys.

Draco liked it.

He liked how much they all loved each other.

He liked that he was now a _part_ of that.

He _loved_ that.

But he was pretty sure that Mondays were his favourite.

Ron and Harry both worked Mondays, but Draco and Hermione didn't.

Hermione worked at a library three days a week and then three days a week at a cafe on the beach, and Draco worked at a bar at this little hut not too far away from the cafe where Hermione was, and he just worked four nights a week, sometimes picking up extra work at a tourist shop.

And on Mondays, they usually spent the days at the beach.

Sometimes they would go to the theatre, which weren't quite as... _Theatrical_ as what Draco was used to when he was younger, but he liked the stories that they told.

Then other days, they would go further up the beach, along the broad walk and toward a skate park that was full no matter what time of day they went.

And Draco got on his skate board.

It was weird, the whole thing, and it required a whole lot more balancing than getting on a broom ever had.

It was great.

Hermione would sit in the grass of the park beside the concrete jungle and she would flip her way through a book, or she would strike up conversation with the other girls who were there, or she would just watch him with a small smile on her face.

He _loved_ this time they spent together.

It took him a while, maybe a year, to realize that he loved _her_ , not just the time they spent together.

Hermione had undoubtedly figured that out a long time ago.

She had always been the brightest witch of her age.

"Come on!" Draco called out to her from where he had skidded his board to a stop near the edge of the concrete.

"What?" Hermione looked over from where she was sitting in the grass, bare legs spread out, wearing a pair of short, frayed denims with jandals tied around her ankles, a white and blue shirt that showed off her legs and a pair of rose-tinted sunglasses perched on her nose.

Adorable.

"Come on," Draco urged again, his lips tilting upward.

"On...That?" Hermione looked a little hesitant, but she got to her feet and attempted to smooth out her thick hair in the blowing wind.

"Yes," Draco responded, smile turning into a grin.

"Uh..." Hermione still looked uncertain but she came over to him, tentatively looking down at the board that Draco had one foot balanced on while the other was on the ground.

"You come with me enough, time for you to get on the board, show us all what you've got," he playfully teased, holding out a hand to her.

It wasn't as though they hadn't _touched_ in the time they had lived together.

They would sit next to each other, all four of them shoved together on their couch, with their legs pressing up against each other.

They would all dance together when they went out together, dodging Ron's flailing limbs and all of them trying to mimic Draco's confident movements.

They would hug pretty often.

There was that time that Draco had had a long shift at the bar and Hermione had given him a foot rub.

But when she reached out and took her hand, gripping it firmly, it felt different from all those other times.

Draco stepped off the skateboard and stepped back, reaching out to hold her other hand, and then helped her step up onto the skateboard, her legs wobbly.

"I'm going to fall off!" Hermione laughed and Draco grinned at her.

"It's okay, you just need to have your feet a bit further apart and bend your knees a bit," Draco directed, although her movements were all jerky and uneven, and she was gripping his hands so hard her knuckles were white, trying to keep her balance.

"Oops!" The board underneath Hermione shot forward as she tried to separate her feet, and Draco had to jump to the side to keep up with the board, still holding her hands firmly.

"It's alright!" Draco couldn't help but laugh at the surprised expression on her face.

"This does not feel as easy as you make it look," Hermione noted, her forehead furrowing as she tried to concentrate.

Except then the board shot out from underneath her again and her body lurched sideways, and it flew out from under her feet and she nearly fell.

"I got you, it's okay!" Draco laughed again as he righted her.

"Well, that went well," Hermione muttered, not looking at all impressed.

"Hold on," Draco let go of her hands and then jogged over to pick up his board from where it had stopped on the grass.

"I'm _not_ doing that again," Hermione noted as he came back over.

"We could try it a bit differently?" Draco suggested.

She drew in a deep breath and then nodded.

"Although," she gave him a cheeky grin. "I really think that I should look the part if I'm getting on that thing."

Hermione reached out and grabbed the cap he was wearing, perching it backwards on her head and then grinning at him.

Draco was pretty sure he smiled back, but his chest felt tight and he really just wanted to kiss her.

He had thought she looked adorable before, but now...

"Okay," Draco cleared his throat. "We'll try it this way."

He got onto the board with one foot, the other on the concrete, keeping them still and then he looked back at her exepctantly.

Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Wait—we're _both_ getting on?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"If you move your ass before the two us turn forty," Draco pretended as though he _wouldn't_ until they were forty for her to get on the board.

She took in a breath and then unsteadily stepped onto the board.

Draco felt the board shift a little at the extra weight applied, but he held it steady for her, waiting as she managed to balance herself behind him and she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, her front pressed against his back.

"Okay—just stay still, right?" Draco told her before pushing off the concrete and then they were sliding forward on the board.

Hermione _didn't_ stay still.

She laughed and tried to shift herself around to see over his shoulder, making it harder for Draco to keep them going smoothly, although he managed to dip them onto the footpath that connected the skate park to the broad walk that ran alongside the beach.

Hermione laughed again and Draco loved the sound of it.

"Easy with the wobbling! Keep your feet still!" Draco called out and Hermione just laughed, which made her wobble _more_.

"I am!" Hermione protested as she tightened her grip around his waist and then peered around him again, forcing Draco to tilt himself in the other direction to keep things balanced.

"You are not!" Draco teased. "You're dancing around on the board like a clown!" He turned them gently toward a gentle slope that led off the boardwalk and into the sand below. "Hold on tight," he told her as the front of the board dipped and they began to roll down the incline.

They were nearly at the bottom when Hermione shifted again and Draco hadn't been prepared for it and they both went toppling forward, thankfully into the sand.

Both of them were laughing as they laid in the sand, Draco's board undoubtedly somewhere further away.

Draco got up first, propping himself up on his elbow and looking down at Hermione, who's hair was splayed out in the sad, his hat fallen off her head and her sunglasses had flipped away from her nose and were messed up in her hair.

He leaned forward to untangle them from her hair, putting them in the sand next to her, and then stared down at her.

Hermione had stopped laughing, but she was still smiling, small and soft, her big eyes trained on him.

So Draco leaned forward and kissed her.

It was soft and sweet and short, and as he pulled back, Hermione lifted her head and nuzzled his nose against his briefly, an intimate gesture that made his stomach squeeze.

Then Draco laid back in the sand and linked his fingers together with hers, grinning up at the sky.

 **Let me know what you think x**


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